Indian hospital in Nigeria ask doctors not to abandon duty

An Indian private hospital with a branch in Nigeria has issued an advisory to all its doctors working there to continue offering medical services "in the best interest of humanity" after some of them abandoned their duty in the wake of Ebola outbreak.

"Unfortunately, in a state of panic, one orthopedic surgeon working at Primus Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria abandoned his services and is alleged to have left Abuja committing medical negligence though he was bound by the medical ethics to provide care to patients admitted under him. Another four doctors (general surgeon, intensivist, anesthetist and physician) want to leave the hospital on the pretext of Ebola Virus Alert after admitting patients requiring intense medical and surgical management," said Dr ND Khurana, Chief Operating Officer, Primus Super Specialty Hospital.

Khurana said as per his knowledge, no such type of virus (Ebola) has been yet detected nor any patient admitted in any hospital in Abuja. The information circulated by WHO is of preventive nature and the public healthcare workers are required to observe safety measures as per standard guidelines," he said.

"This will bring bad name to India. Ethically and legally, they are duty bound to render their services uninterruptedly but they are shirking their duty in this hour of need," Khurana said.

As per the hospital, only two patients were detected to be affected by Ebola at Lagos several days ago and till date no fresh case has been reported. Lagos is at a distance of over 800 kms from our hospital in Abuja.